Protective Instincts
by rationalbookworm
Summary: Not many knew, but Draco could be extremely protective of those who he considered his.


**Here's another little clip from my old story.**

Draco would never admit it, but he was _not_ a morning person. Only three people (he didn't count his house elves) knew of his weakest time of the day. His mother, who had spent countless years coaxing him out of bed every morning, and the two banes of his existence. Trinity Maserith and Phoenix Van Garrett. The Van Garretts had been business partners with his father since Draco had been a child and he had been forced to spend time with the young girls. Over the years they had built a tolerance for one another based on prank wars and the simple fact that their parents were hardly around, with the exception of Trinity. Trinity's parents were always there for her, even when she was staying with her aunt and uncle, which extended to Phoenix naturally, and somehow, later, Draco as well. They were a twisted, dysfunctional sort of family, one he secretly looked out for, as much as he was capable.

Secret was really the biggest part of his relationship with the strange Americans. He was raised not to show his emotions. His father was very heavy handed about that. He would never show how he truly felt, no matter who it was. But that didn't mean he didn't care. He might not like it, but he did care.

So no, he was not a morning person, and the only two people in the school he would allow to know said fact were not people he interacted with outside teasing and schoolwork. He tried his best not to snap at Crabbe and Goyle and whoever else dared try his patience so early in the day. It wouldn't be until after breakfast that he truly became tolerable (as much as he ever was) of other people's bullshit. So when he walked into the Great Hall, eager for coffee and eggs and bacon, and came across a small group of his fellow Slytherins hovering near the Gryffindor table where Phoenix was scarfing down pancakes while Trinity attempted to understand Divination with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. The cousins were too distracted to worry about the snickering teens in green and no one else seemed willing to acknowledge them either.

Fucking Gryffindors.

Draco sighed, asking whatever deity was listening for patience as he quickly grabbed a mug of coffee as he moved to divert his classmates' attention from the cousins. Teasing was one thing, but Slytherins tended to take things too far, something he would not stand when directed to Trinity and Phoenix. It was just different when he teased them. He had learned what lines to cross over the years whereas the Slytherins dithering about simply wouldn't care. To them, everybody always assumed Slytherins were evil, so they may as well give them what they expected. Normally Draco went along with it, but he drew a line here. _Nobody_ caused those two pain. He couldn't – wouldn't – stand for that.

He leaned back against the table near Jack Holmes who seemed to be the main instigator this morning, but before he could say a word the taller boy stepped forward, his wand twisting in his fingers. What followed couldn't be avoided. He acted on instinct.

* * *

The second day of classes started out just as every other day for Harry. He got up, avoided the stares and whispers of his classmates, got ready, and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He sat with Hermione and Ron while he frowned down at his porridge thinking over the day before. Umbridge was _evil_. As in Voldemort levels of evil. He didn't understand how Dumbledore could allow her in the school, but then again Dumbledore wasn't acting how Harry expected at all this year. The whole year was looking like a colossal failure. He doubted he'd survive to see the summer holidays. He honestly didn't see how _anyone_ was going survive. And they were all acting like _he_ was the villain somehow. Why would he ever lie about Voldemort coming back?

He sighed, scrubbing his face with a hand as he dragged his attention back to breakfast, forcing himself to take a few bites before Hermione's concerned frown turned into concerned scolding. He really wasn't up for that today. A groan drew his eye a few seats down the table, where Trinity had her head down on the table while Lavender and Parvati snickered across from her. Phoenix seemed far to invested in eating to do more than roll her eyes at her cousin. It was still weird to him how after two years of barely ever interacting with Phoenix and Trinity outside of class to them just being there all the time. He still didn't spend any time with them, but it was as if sitting with them on the train made him more aware of them in the school. He had to admit it was nice knowing someone outside of Gryffindor, even if it was just to say hello occasionally in the halls.

He jumped when suddenly there was a flash of light and a snake was hissing and slithering over the table, making a bee line for Trinity, whose head jerked up at the first flash. Her eyes widened, fear taking over her expression instantly as all blood drained from her face. With a sharp scream that made him wince, the brunette tried to jump away from the table, tripping over her chair and falling onto her back. She didn't stop scrambling back, clearly terrified as if she were facing down her own demise. Dimly, he was aware of the other girls jumping away from the table in shock and fear, but Trinity's reaction was so volatile it drew everyone's attention, including some laughs from the Slytherins who no doubt were behind the snake magically appearing.

His mouth had opened to calm the snake when he was distracted by the loud shattering of ceramic. His head whipped around to see Malfoy standing in a shallow puddle of black coffee and his wand drawn. Harry tensed, ready to help defend Trinity from whatever new torture the Snake was planning. To his surprise, however, bright light shot from the blonde's wand toward the snake, making it disappear in a puff of smoke. Silence seemed to suck all the air out of the room as everyone waited for Malfoy to do something. Harry watched as his enemy sneered at his fellow Slytherin and stepped up to the still prone Trinity, reaching down to grab her elbow and heft her to her feet. Phoenix moved to them and with one look at Malfoy, took her cousin by the wrist and towed her out the door of the Great Hall, completely ignoring the stares from the rest of the student body, and the few teachers up at the head table. Harry was stunned as Malfoy gathered Trinity and Phoenix's bags and books and marched out after the girls. The silence lasted a few more moments before chatter suddenly broke out as everybody talked over the strange turn of events. Who knew Malfoy had a heart?

Eye contact with his two best friends had the three Gryffindors scrambling to get their things together so they could rush out as well. They followed Malfoy from a distance, aided by their late start, down to the Potions classroom in the dungeons. They hung back around the corner of the door when they heard quiet voices talking down the hall.

"Thanks Draco," said a female voice Harry guessed was either Trinity or Phoenix.

"Are you hurt?" Draco asked.

"Just my pride," Trinity, definitely Trinity, chuckled weakly.

"Oh don't worry," Phoenix sounded pissed. "Theirs will be a lot worse."

"Phee…"

"No. Nah-uh. You are _terrified_ of snakes. They _do not_ get to exploit that without consequences."

Trinity sighed loud enough for even Harry to catch while Malfoy snickered.

"What? You saying you don't to get even?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Malfoy drawled.

"Thought so," Phoenix smugly answered. "Just don't do anything without me there, got it?"

Harry's brow furrowed as he thought over their words. Was Malfoy actually _protective_ over Trinity, a Ravenclaw? It was so opposite to what he knew, Harry couldn't make himself believe it, even with the proof right in front of him. There was no other reason for the blonde to act the way he had. Judging by their expressions Ron and Hermione didn't know how to react with this new information either. He had always seen Malfoy as a bully, his schoolyard enemy. And he was. But apparently, that wasn't all he was. For whatever reason, Trinity and Phoenix had some sort of loyalty from him. Strange loyalty, considering just the day before Harry had seen the two Slytherins bickering and threatening each other with Trinity glaring at Malfoy the whole time.

Harry had never had a relationship like that. He had either gotten along with someone, or he fought against them. Even with those he had considered friends, once they started fighting with him, he no longer saw them the same way. Like when Ron saw him as a cheater during the Triwizard Tournament. Their friendship had seemed completely destroyed. They hadn't even tried to speak until after the first task when Ron had apologized. Was that really how he was? Could he really not be friends with someone if they disagreed with him? Even now he was having trouble being around his two best friends because he knew they were talking behind his back. Was there something wrong with him?

"What are you three up to?"

The suspicious voice of Snape made Harry jump and quickly look around for his least favorite teacher. But the man was nowhere to be seen.

"Sorry Professor," Trinity's voice answered. "We were just waiting for class to start."

There was a long pause.

"Come in then," Snape finally answered. "You can tell me why you're really here inside."

After the door opened and the four people shuffled inside Harry, Ron, and Hermione slowly began to walk away. They'd have to be back soon for class, but they didn't really want to hang around so near the Slytherin common room either. It wasn't until they were well away from Snape's classroom, well out of earshot, that one of them spoke.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked rather loudly.

"Ron," Hermione hushed, motioning for him to keep his voice down.

"What? It's strange. Malfoy…"

"He's still a person, Ronald. He's allowed to have friends."

Harry scoffed before he could stop himself, "When have you ever seen Malfoy be friends with _anyone_. Phoenix and Trinity definitely don't spend time with him."

"Well," Hermione said slowly, thinking, "We're never in the Slytherin common room. We don't know…"

"Oh come on, Hermione," Harry chuckled. "Phoenix and Malfoy were threatening each other with bodily harm yesterday. Who threatens their friends like that?"

"Malfoy?" Hermione's smile was a little wry.

Harry grinned back at her as Ron broke out into guffaws.

* * *

Trinity sat with her arms crossed on the table, her chin propped up on top of them. Her face was set into a scowl as she watched Professor Snape get ready for the day's class. Unlike most Potions classes, where Trinity and Phoenix sat alone at a table, today she was flanked by her cousins. Not that most knew she considered Draco family (cousin was the closest she could come up with; brother he was not) but after breakfast she knew rumors would be circling like crazy. Hence her scowl. She hated being the center of attention let alone _that_ sort of attention. It was going to be a long day.

After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened and students began trickling in, each giving their table the side-eye. She ignored them as best she could but with Phee muttering colorful insults under her breath it was a little difficult. When class began, she wasn't surprised to find Snape even more brutally honest to the Gryffindors than normal. Stupid Draco just had to tell him how none of the Lions had bothered to help her.

Despite the general opinion of the Hogwarts staff, Snape was actually one of Trinity's favorites. Sure, he could be a little harsh, but she was determined to believe he simply had higher standards for his students and refused to put up with those who didn't meet those standards. And while Potions could be difficult, and was definitely not her favorite, or even her best class, as long as she paid attention it was relatively easy to follow. Sometimes she even spent an afternoon getting extra help. Potions was interesting enough for her to be willing to do that and be able to actually get Phee to tag along as well. Therefore, she and Snape had a pretty decent student/teacher relationship. She got passing grades and he didn't yell at her.

What she never knew was that somehow that equaled to him being as protective of her as he was most of his own House. She found herself sitting in the middle of Slytherins while Snape snapped at anyone looking at her wrong. His House quickly got the picture and became a sort of protective wall around her for the rest of the class to stay on his good side and even on to the next couple lessons, though she didn't share them with Draco. Phoenix had never looked so smug.

Trinity was thoroughly done with all the nonsense by the time lunch rolled around and she plopped down at the Slytherin table with Phee, far away from the Gryffindor table where people were staring at her like she'd grown a second head. She glared when Draco sat down on her other side, a very confused Crabbe and Goyle taking places across from them.

"Seriously," she hissed. "What the hell is everybody's problem? No one's reacted like this any of the other times I've been bullied!"

"Eat your lunch," was the only response she got from the blonde.

She huffed angrily and dropped her head down on the table with a loud thump. Today just couldn't get any weirder.

A throat being cleared behind her and the abnormal silence of the students in most of the Hall had her swiveling around. Jack Holmes, the guy who had sent a snake after her, was standing uneasily behind her while her cousins eyed him like a hunting target.

"Yes?" She asked as politely as she could manage when no one else spoke.

"I...wanted to...apologize." Clearly that was the last thing he wanted to do judging by his uncomfortable expression.

"It's fine," she mumbled, turning back around to poke at the salad she had put on her plate. If only she could start this day over.

Draco scoffed at the exact same time as Phee making Trinity chuckle and the two to glare at one another. As they began to bicker, she sighed. Hopefully things would return to normal now.


End file.
